After Tarbela, Mangla too reaching dead level, water scarcity may result in civil war: Business leader

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Islamabad: Despite rainy season, Tarbela Dam has reached its dead level while Mangla Dam will reach its dead level in a matter of days pushing water scarcity to new heights, a business leader said Tuesday.

Water should be on the top of the national agenda lest water shortages fan differences among provinces resulting in civil war or an armed conflict with a neighbouring country, said business leader Malik Sohail.

The country is dying of thirst but our leaders and masses are too much focused on politics, he said, adding that Pakistan has no future unless radical changes in water culture are introduced. Malik Sohail who has also served as Senior Vice President of ICCI said that water was also used as a weapon against Israel.

The desert nation decided to combat water scarcity with a host of measures. Through a combination of conservation, reuse and desalination, the country now has more water than it needs which can be followed like many other countries.

Several water-poor countries in Asia and Africa are already benefiting from Israeli water technologies while in China huge desalination plants based on Israeli technology are providing water to millions, he said.

The rainfall had halved since 1948 in Israel but its population has increased tenfold, economy expended seventy times while water-related business has surpassed 2.5 billion dollars.

The business leader said that years of criminal negligence, mismanagement, wastage of funds on symbolic projects, and controversial constitutional amendments have contributed to the situation in Pakistan which should be fixed immediately otherwise we should wait for a doomsday scenario.